


in the name of what you love

by ohcinnamon



Category: Bandom, Set It Off (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angel/Demon Relationship, Fallen Angels, M/M, angel au, listen i was enchanted with this idea and had to write it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 15:21:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19444156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohcinnamon/pseuds/ohcinnamon
Summary: “Maxx Danziger,” Cody orders, putting on his ‘in-command’ voice. “I have been summoned to eliminate you on the orders of the Divine Council. Do you have any last sentiments?”or: Cody gets a lot more than he bargained for when he's assigned to hunt down a fallen angel.





	in the name of what you love

**Author's Note:**

> remember when i used to write about boys with wings all the time? yeah, i'm back on my angel shit.
> 
> (title from "church" by fall out boy.)

Cody pulls the hood up over his head, trying to shield himself from the rain. The last thing he wants is for this mission to take longer than it needs to because he’s uncomfortably wet.

All he knows is he’s looking for a certain demon somewhere in the LA area — which is a stretch in itself, because LA is a city full of sin. It’s a city of lust, greed, pride. The whole damn area is riddled with demonic auras leading in a million different directions. If he were less experienced, he might never find his target.

But Cody’s always been good at his job. He’s close. He knows it.

He finds the demon sitting in an alleyway, seemingly unaware of, or maybe unbothered by, the rain falling around them. He’s got white-blonde hair hanging in his face, half-lidded green eyes, and a pretty mouth set in a frown — not exactly the whole ‘cloaked in fire, horned, barbed tail’ image that most humans have come to associate with demons.

So he’s attractive. Not uncommon. A lot of demons that Cody has dealt with have been prettier than angels themselves.

“What do you want?” the man asks, trying to look nonchalant, but Cody can sense his aura almost immediately. Cody’s got experience in sniffing out demons, and not even the rain can mask his trail. This is exactly the man he’s been looking for.

“Maxx Danziger,” Cody orders, putting on his ‘in-command’ voice. “I have been summoned to eliminate you on the orders of the Divine Council. Do you have any last sentiments?”

“A revered angel like yourself was sent here to take care of lil’ ol’ me?” Maxx gives him a half-smile. “Come on, then, angel. Show me your true form.”

Cody bristles, not fond of being told what to do, but he obeys. If this is Maxx’s last sentiment, he might as well handle it with respect. He gently takes out the faux lip ring — merely a mask to cloak his true form — and Maxx watches with a knowing gaze as he is engulfed in a flash of light; halo glowing gold like honey, wings as pure white as the down of a swan. He can feel the power in his blood pulsing through his body, ready to complete his mission at any moment. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Clever,” Maxx says, pointing at the halo now hovering above Cody’s head. “Cloaking the halo as a piercing. I love it when we do that.”

Almost as if proving a point, Maxx reaches up to his face, and suddenly the hoop that was once in his nose is no longer just facial jewelry, but has transformed into a halo above his head. It’s tarnished and cracked, sure, but Cody knows a real from a fake anywhere. His eyes glow a dim gold, barely a fraction of the true power he once contained. Maxx isn’t bluffing. 

And his wings, _god_ , his wings. Those are definitely angel wings gone wrong — once full and white, now dirty and ruffled, losing feathers near the bottom. His wingspan might be even longer than Cody’s when it comes down to it. It must have been quite a sight to see him back when… 

“So you’re a Fallen One?” Cody asks, though he already knows the answer. Dealing with demons is never fun, but fallen angels are the least fun of all. They know his weaknesses, where he comes from, why he does what he does. They’re just like him — except they’re traitors. 

“So you _do_ have a brain,” Maxx deadpans, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the brick wall. There’s a flash of light and suddenly his angel display is no more; just a nose ring again. “Yeah, I’m a ‘Fallen One’, or whatever you all call people like me. What are you gonna do about it?”

Cody also tends to find it harder to eliminate Fallen Ones _because_ of the kinship he might have once felt with them. He shakes it off. Maxx is his mission, not his friend. He's a demon, and Cody knows his job. “I already told you. I’ve been sent here on a mission to eliminate you on the orders of the Divine Council.”

“If you want to kill me, I’m not gonna stop you,” Maxx shrugs. “I’ve lived a long life. I know what you have to do. I have no hard feelings.”

Cody is skeptical. He feels almost… disappointed. “Why? Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Why should I be?” Maxx asks. “I know what will happen when I face Death. It looks like you’re the only one holding yourself back. I don’t know why you’re still just standing there, honestly.”

Cody is taken aback by his sudden boldness — and by how easily he’d seemed to read Cody’s passiveness for inaction. “You shouldn’t be so sure of yourself, demon. You’re on the Council’s list, you know. That makes you a pretty high-profile target.”

“You’re not going to kill me tonight,” Maxx says more confidently, getting to his feet. Without the halo and wings giving him away, he’s nothing more than just a man in the rain once more. 

“How do you know that?” Cody asks, curling his hands into fists. “You don’t know me.”

“If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it already,” Maxx explains, flashing him a knowing glance. “Come find me again once you’re ready.”

He walks off into the rain, and just like that, he’s gone without a trace.

* * *

Months pass before Cody finds Maxx again, but he’s not any closer to being ready. Far from it, actually.

He reads up on Maxx’s case. Apparently, whatever happened to him, they don’t like to talk about it — which is unusual, because the demon hunters he knows are always eager to talk about their most recent missions. Either nobody’s ever been assigned to Maxx’s case before, or there’s something they don’t want to mention about it. 

It’s not like he’s terrorizing the public or anything, though. From what Cody’s observed over the months, he seems to be just… existing on Earth? He hasn’t used magic once, just gone on with his life acting like he’s a normal human. So why would they assign Cody, one of the most experienced hunters in the Council, to a case as uneventful and bland as Maxx’s? It just doesn’t add up, and all of it is making him skeptical.

That night in the alleyway constantly plays on repeat in the back of his mind. What had it been about Maxx that drew Cody to hold back? He needs to know more before he takes action. 

Fortunately for him, the Council is giving him a lot of time with this one, because they know it could be tricky. They know he might have to gain Maxx’s trust first. There’s only one thing: he doesn’t want to kill Maxx — at least, not yet, he doesn’t. He’s too curious about his story. He’s never had a mission quite like it.

So when Maxx finally acknowledges him again, he’s sitting in the bushes outside Maxx’s apartment, watching him as he walks back from the grocery store. Cody doesn’t know how to confront him. It’s not like he can say ‘ _hey, I’ve been watching you for months, just waiting for the perfect time to speak to you while I learn more about you! Can I come in for tea?_ ’

Well, he could. It’s not like it would be the worst way to approach him.

Maxx catches his eyes all of the sudden, even though Cody had thought his hiding spot was imperceptible, and Cody nearly jumps out of his skin. Maxx remains stoic. “If you’re gonna keep staring at me, you can at least help me carry my groceries in.”

Cody doesn’t help with the groceries, but he does hold the door open.

“So you’ve found me again, and you’re ready to kill me this time?” Maxx suggests after he finishes putting the groceries away, raising an eyebrow. He opens his arms out wide, making himself vulnerable.

“I never said that,” Cody mumbles, casting his gaze down to the floor. _Shit._

“You want to ask me questions before you kill me, is that it?” Maxx asks. “Is the curiosity killing you? Go ahead, ask. I’ll answer honestly.”

“Who said I wanted to do that?” Cody bluffs. “Maybe I’m just… in the neighborhood.”

“You seem like a nice guy, but you’re a terrible liar,” Maxx says, shrugging his jacket off and hanging it on the back of a chair. “Plus, I don’t even know your name. Wine?”

He holds out a glass to Cody, who shakes his head. He’s never been intoxicated before, and he’s not about to start. “No thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” Maxx pours himself half a glass of cheap white wine, takes a sip, and grimaces. “You still never told me your name.”

“Cody Charles Carson,” he says, 

“That’s a mouthful,” Maxx muses. “Mind if I just call you Cody?”

“...I guess?” Cody watches him curiously, trying to figure out what he’s playing at. 

“You can act all you want, but I know that you want to know what I did to be cast out of Heaven,” Maxx deadpans, that devastating green gaze locked on Cody, freezing him in place. “Right?”

Cody swallows hard. That’s one way to go about it, even if it is rather blunt. “I mean, I wasn’t going to ask you out of respect, if that’s what you mean.”

“But you still want to know.”

“I can’t help my curiosity, yeah.”

Maxx takes a deep breath, biting the inside of his cheek. Cody can almost picture what he’d look like in the golden glow of a full halo, and that stabs his heart for some reason. “Long story short, I fell in love. With a human. And… that’s it. That’s my entire scandal.”

Cody’s taken aback. Falling in love is forbidden to angels, especially with humans. But still, he expected something worse. Something full of malice. 

He needed something to hate Maxx for, to justify going through with his mission, but he found nothing. 

“How long ago was it? How old are you?” Cody finds himself asking. It couldn’t have been long; Maxx still looks relatively young. When angels are cast from Heaven their bodies take on the aging properties of humans — it puts them at a weird crossroads between angel, human, and demon, all at the same time. 

Maxx shrugs. “On this planet? It happened about five years ago, I think. Technically, I’m like 450 years old.” He stops, gives Cody a weak smile. “But in human years, now, I’d guess my body is somewhere around 28. I’ve been aging for five years, and based on my research of what humans look like at this age, that’s where I’d put myself.”

A pang of sadness strikes Cody’s heart. So he’s _younger._ Not by much — Cody’s only around 500 years old, himself — but still. He hadn’t expected someone younger than him to make such a grave mistake. 

“What was it like?” He asks the question before he can stop himself. 

“What was _what_ like?”

“Being in love.”

Maxx smiles sadly. “It was great. He was great.” _He_ , Cody thinks, before mentally kicking himself. “He, uh, he got in an accident and passed away a couple of years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Cody says solemnly. He’s never been in love before, since it’s obviously not allowed, but he knows that if can cause great pain to those who experience it. “What was his name?”

Maxx chokes up for a second. “Andrew. He was the biggest idiot I’d ever met. He was dorky, and loud, and funny. And I loved him for it.”

“I’m sure he loved you more than you know.”

“...thanks.”

 _Why did I say that?_ Cody thinks, cursing at himself. He’s already getting off on the wrong foot, which is exactly what he needs to _avoid_ with the kind of strategy he’s hoping to follow. _Okay. Try again._

“Thank you for telling me all of that,” Cody says, and he’s surprised at how sincerely he means it. “I hope we’ll be able to learn even more about each other in the future.”

“So you’re not going to kill me tonight?” Maxx asks, and his voice sounds almost hopeful. Despite the front he puts up, Cody can tell he’s more scared of Death than he lets on.

Cody shakes his head, dropping his gaze down to the floor, and lets out a choked “no, wasn’t planning on it.”

He can’t do it right now. Not when Maxx is making him feel. 

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Maxx says, trying (and failing) to keep the relief out of his voice. “I guess you can hang out, then.”

“I guess I can?” Cody replies, more of a question than a confirmation. 

“What have you been doing while you waited?” Maxx asks. “I mean, not that I don’t _love_ the company of an angel who’s been watching my every move for months, but it feels like you should have done something by now.”

 _Play it cool. Don’t let him know you’re just waiting this long to get close to him._ “I’m not allowed to return until I reach a conclusion, or they drop the case,” Cody explains. “So I’ve just kind of been… hanging out in LA for a while now, waiting to see what they do.”

“Where do you go, then? I mean, you have to have a place to sleep,” Maxx reasons, eyeing Cody suspiciously. It makes Cody’s heart climb into his throat. 

Cody shrugs. “I mean, I have nowhere else to go. I’ve just been hopping between churches and shelters for a while.”

“Let me get this straight,” Maxx says. “You’ve made the decision not to kill me, so you’re just kind of hanging around on Earth until the Council drops the case — if they even do that — and you only decided to talk to me because I finally called you out for watching me from my bushes? And after this, you just expect to go… sleep in a shelter?”

 _Please don’t catch on._ “I mean yeah, basically.”

There’s a pause, and Cody’s heart feels like it’s going to fall out of his mouth. If Maxx suspects Cody’s plan to gain his trust and wants to kick him out, or even worse, become violent, he’ll have to take action sooner than he anticipated. He’s not ready for that.

“You can sleep on my couch,” Maxx finally says, giving in, and Cody breathes a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry that I don’t have, like, a spare bed or anything, but hopefully it’s better than having to stay in a shelter.”

“That’s more than I could ever ask for,” Cody reassures him, doing his best at a half-smile. “Thank you.”

“Let me get you set up,” Maxx says, setting his glass in the sink gingerly, still regarding Cody with a cautious glance. “C’mon. Follow me.”

And that’s how Cody starts off his mission from the Divine Council: living on Maxx’s couch.

“I, uh, I have clothes,” Maxx offers, tossing him a blanket. “If you need to change in the morning. Just… go through the closet, I guess.”

Cody wraps the blanket around his shoulders, already tired as he sinks into the worn cushions. “Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“If you need anything, my bedroom is just down the hall,” Maxx says, flicking the light off. He pauses for a second, taking in the sight of the angel curled up on his couch, and Cody’s doing the same thing right back to him. “Goodnight, Cody.”

He’s not sure what to say, so he just nods, and Maxx’s gaze lingers on him for a bit longer before he finally turns and disappears into his bedroom.

Cody is, quite frankly, taken aback by Maxx’s kindness. Maxx knows that Cody was sent to kill him, and was actively trying to do so months ago, and yet he just… offered Cody a place to stay. He’s never known anybody in his life that would even think about doing that, especially given their roles in each other’s futures.

 _Snap out of it_ , Cody thinks to himself, rubbing his hands over his face. _You stick around long enough to gain his trust, and then you kill him. He’s a demon, not your friend. Manipulation is what they do best. He’s playing the long game, just like you._

His last thoughts before he drifts off to sleep still linger on the way the blonde man had looked at him before disappearing down the hallway. _Goodnight, Maxx._

* * *

After a few days, Cody is very familiar with how weird it is to be alone in the apartment while Maxx is at work during the day. 

Cody traces his fingers along picture frames, filled with people he doesn’t know the names of. He almost wishes that the Council had given him more information about Maxx, just so he could understand.

There’s also the fact that he’s incredibly bored. Not just with this; he’s been bored for centuries. Maxx is different.

Wearing Maxx’s clothes, eating his food, staying in his apartment — it’s all way too much to think about without feeling like a burden. In the back of his mind, reason is telling Cody he shouldn’t feel bad for Maxx, since he’s a demon, after all, and Cody will have to take care of him eventually, but it doesn’t seem to outweigh the feeling he gets when he hears Maxx’s keys in the door and realizes he’s barely done anything all day while Maxx has been away.

“You’re home,” he says, taken a little aback at how excited his own voice sounds. “How, uh… how are you?”

“I’m so _fucking_ tired,” Maxx groans, flopping face-first onto the couch. “God, I’m so glad it’s Friday.”

“What do you do?” Cody asks. “I mean, when you’re gone all day?”

Maxx looks up from the couch and smiles at him, amused. “You know, for such a good hunter, you guys really don’t put a lot in your case files, do you?”

Cody shrugs, at a loss — it seems like this is his go-to feeling a lot, lately. “We don’t use more information than we need to. It prevents us from creating an emotional attachment.”

“I know, I know,” Maxx says. “I think you forget I was just like you at one point.”

There’s a pang in Cody’s chest, and he pushes down the feeling of guilt. “You still didn’t answer my question.”

“Well, I work, because I need the money,” Maxx says simply. “I’m a photographer, mostly, but I paint, too. Sometimes I write. I sell the things I make. ‘s not too easy to get a ‘real job’ when you don’t have a birth certificate or anything to help you out, but I’ve got some good friends who have helped me get by. There are people willing to look the other way when it comes to the law if it means helping another person out.”

“That’s nice of them,” Cody muses. He has friends, sure, he’s not certain if he has friends that _close_ , persay — he never needed to. “I’m glad they helped you.”

“What are you _really_ thinking about, Cody?” Maxx asks. “You’re an open book, and you’re way too tense, man. I can tell something is off.”

“I feel bad,” Cody finally says, and Maxx quirks an eyebrow at him. “You do everything, and all I do is… sit here and wait for the Council to be done with me, or whatever they’re going to do. 

Maxx sits up, looking at him more directly. “You know, if you want to help me out around the apartment, I wouldn’t mind you staying. I have more shit to do than I ever have time for.”

Cody’s heart soars when he realizes that Maxx is basically offering for him to become a resident of his home, at least for now. For 500 years, he’s been looking for something to capture his attention, to relieve his eternal boredom. This might just be it.

“Yeah, I can definitely do that,” Cody says, unable to help his smile. “If you don’t mind me sticking around.”

“Good,” Maxx says, getting into his feet. He heads into the kitchen, then returns with a spatula, which he hands to Cody. “We’re going to teach you how to cook. It’s time you start earning your stay here.”

Cody’s more than okay with that.

* * *

It takes a while, but they reach a point where Cody thinks they could be considered friends.

He regards Maxx as someone _more_ than just a roommate — which is weird enough in itself, but true. They’ve bonded too much to just be roommates. They’ve even been hanging out together, if one could call it that. 

Pizza Thursdays have become a tradition between them; one of many. It makes Cody’s brain feel fuzzy. They have _traditions_. They have set things they do together. They _like_ being around each other.

Could this be friendship?

“Can you grab the pizza out of the oven?” Maxx asks, before interjecting “— _with the gloves on this time._ ”

Cody groans. “You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

Maxx snickers. “Absolutely not. You were sent from the Council to kill me, and one of their most trained hunters grabbed an oven rack with his bare hands. It’s a beautiful juxtaposition.”

“Oh, shut up and hand me the pizza cutter.”

For the most part, this Thursday is like all the others that have come before it — they sit on the couch, eat way too much pizza, and watch terrible reality television while trading banter. It makes this place feel more like home than anywhere else Cody has ever known, and for the first time in his life, he’s okay with living with that realization. However, he can’t help asking one little, burning question that’s been on his mind.

“Why did you decide to help me?” he asks, and Maxx looks taken aback — enough so that he almost drops his pizza, which would have been a tragedy. “Don’t look at me like that. You and I both know how weird it is that you took me in like you did. The rational thing to do would have been to get me the hell out of the picture. So why didn’t you?”

“You needed help, and I could help you,” Maxx finally says. “And at that point, I knew you weren’t going to kill me. You may not have been sure of it, but I was. Like I said a long time ago, if you were going to, you would have done it already. If you wait too long, you form too much of an emotional connection. You know that from experience, and so do I.”

 _Of course you do_ , Cody thinks, and it feels like someone is squeezing his chest. Of course he’d never be able to kill Maxx. They’re too close, now. He doesn’t want to lose someone who’s begun to mean so much to him. He cares about Maxx’s wellbeing way too much to ever see him get hurt, much less by _himself._

He can’t really let Maxx know any of what he’s thinking, though, so he tries to play it off as a joke. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Watch your back, Maxx, you never know when I might strike.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re kind of the worst at following orders from the Council.” Maxx grins, and it makes Cody feel like his blood is on fire. “You love me too much.”

He’s right about the Council. Cody’s going to fail his mission. But would that be such a bad thing?

* * *

And then one morning, Cody wakes up, and it feels like his entire body is on fire.

He’s never felt like this before; sure, he’s been injured before in his 500 years of working as an angel, and he’s sure he felt pain in his past life, but it’s never been anything like this. It occurs to him that there might be a reason — he could be falling _sick_ , a sign that he’s definitely been on Earth too long.

None of this is good.

“ _Maxx_ ,” Cody calls feebly, surprised by the roughness of his own voice. 

Thank _god_ Maxx doesn’t have to work today, because he’s by Cody’s side in what seems like an instant — maybe it’s longer, though. Cody keeps losing track of how time is supposed to work.

“Cody?” Maxx asks, the worry evident in his voice. “You okay?”

Cody coughs in response, and Maxx frowns. He presses the back of his hand to Cody’s forehead, and his eyes go wide.

“Holy fuck,” Maxx mumbles. “You’re, like, burning alive. We need to cool you down.”

“But I _feel_ so cold at the same time,” Cody groans, burrowing deeper into his blankets. “ _Maaaxx._ ”

“I’m right here.”

“I feel like shit.”

“You look like shit.”

“Gee, thanks. You really know how to treat a boy, Danziger.”

“You haven’t ever been sick before, have you?” Maxx realizes. “There’s no sickness in…”

Cody shakes his head, and immediately regrets it. He lets out a loud groan, squeezing his eyes shut. “My head is killing me. _Everything_ is killing me.”

“That’s it, we’re moving you to my bed,” Maxx declares, pulling the blanket off of him, earning a moan of protest and a lot of shivering. “Can you walk?”

“I think so,” Cody says, but as he gets to his feet, he finds himself a little wobbly. Maxx slings an arm around him, pulling him in close, and it feels like every nerve in Cody’s body lights on fire. 

Despite living here for months now, Cody hasn’t gone into Maxx’s room very often. It’s simple, with a lot of plants filling the small space, and a window just over the bed that lets the early morning sunlight in. And, since Cody can barely stand up right now, the huge pile of blankets on Maxx’s bed looks like heaven right now. He snuggles himself in, trying to soak up as much heat as possible.

“I’ll be right back,” Maxx says, and Cody already misses the warmth of his arm as he steps back toward the door. “Bundle up in there if you’re cold, because I’m bringing back some medicine to hopefully cool down that fever.”

It hits Cody that he really doesn’t know what he’d do if Maxx had never taken him in. If he was still just hanging around LA, he’d be fighting this on his own, and who knows where he’d be? He doesn’t even want to know what shit he’d be in with the Council. But then again, where were they before he found Maxx? Why had they let him struggle for so long?

—before he knows it, Maxx is back, rattling a bottle of pills and breaking Cody out of his thoughts.

“You need to take this medicine,” Maxx says, pushing it toward Cody. “I don’t know how well it’ll work on you, since you’re an angel, but I figure it can’t hurt, right?”

“Thanks,” Cody says, suddenly feeling somewhat sheepish. He’s a _full angel_ for crying out loud, and he’s so weak right now that he’s basically being cared for by someone’s who’s the equivalent of a human at this point. It’s pathetic. “I appreciate it.”

Except it doesn’t really help at all, or so it feels like that. Half an hour passes, and Cody still feels like shit.

“Maxx, I still feel so cold,” Cody whines, pulling another blanket around himself. He knows all of his complaining has to be annoying at this point, but the blonde man hasn’t left his side for more than a moment. 

“I think that’s the fever talking,” Maxx says, pressing the back of his hand to Cody’s forehead. “You’re still burning up.”

“Weird,” Cody muses. “Because I think I’m gonna die of hypothermia.”

“Are all of you angels so dramatic?” Maxx asks, and Cody opens his mouth to argue, but then he sees the smile on Maxx’s face, and he shuts right up. He can’t argue with that.

Finally, Cody starts drifting off, despite the pounding in his head and his fluctuating temperature. Except it’s then that Maxx starts to leave the room — slowly, so he doesn’t disturb Cody from falling asleep — and it feels wrong. It wakes him right back up.

And maybe it really _is_ just the fever talking, like Maxx said, but Cody really doesn’t want him to leave. “Stay.”

“Hm?” Maxx turns around, eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Did you just ask me to—”

“Stay. Please stay,” Cody says. He feels kind of pathetic for asking — actually, _really_ pathetic — but he really doesn’t want to be alone right now. “I just… I need someone right now.”

Maxx pauses for a second, thinking it over, before letting out a soft sigh and walking back toward the bed. 

“All right, move over,” he says, picking up the edge of the blanket. “But I’m gonna kick your ass if you get me sick, too.”

It takes Maxx a second to get comfortable under the covers, rolling around and snuggling himself in, but Cody can’t stop watching him. It’s not even anything particularly interesting, but he’s just so complex altogether. Cody can’t think of anyone who would ever take somebody in the way Maxx had taken him in. It’s fascinating. 

“What do you keep looking at me for?” Maxx asks, finally noticing Cody’s lingering gaze. “Am I that ugly?”

“Your hair isn’t naturally that color blonde,” Cody notes, staring at the darker regrowth of Maxx’s roots. He’s never been this close to Maxx before, so it’s his first time noticing a lot of things. He’s also kind of out of his mind right now, so he might just be saying the first thing that pops into his head.

“When was the last time you came to Earth, angel?” Maxx asks, amused. “Dyeing your hair has been a thing for a while now.”

“I’m not _that_ old,” Cody mumbles defensively. “I was just making an observation.”

“What, you don’t like it?” Maxx asks, running a hand through his hair. “Does it look bad?”

“No!” Cody quickly backtracks. It’s quite the opposite — Maxx looks _good_ , and it kind of makes his head spin. _Hopefully_ that’s also just the fever talking. “I just mean… I don’t know, I wasn’t expecting it.”

“You should try dyeing your hair sometime,” Maxx says, reaching out and ruffling Cody’s hair. For some reason, Cody doesn’t pull away. It’s soothing. “Blue would look good on you.”

“ _Blue?_ ” Cody exclaims, his voice taking on an incredulous tone, and Maxx grins. 

“Yeah, blue. It would bring out the color of your eyes.” He starts carding his fingers through Cody’s hair, and suddenly the annoying ‘ _angel’_ pet name seems a whole lot softer in Cody’s memory. He leans into Maxx’s hand, closing his eyes, and the pounding in his head seems a little more bearable.

“This sounds so weird, but can you keep doing that?” Cody asks, feeling his cheeks heat up. “It’s actually kind of making my headache go away.”

“Sure,” Maxx mumbles, voice low and soft, and Cody’s glad his eyes are closed right now so he doesn’t have to see his face. He might not be able to handle it. “Are you still cold?”

“A little bit,” Cody says, and he feels Maxx lift off the bed a little bit, presumably to grab another blanket. “Sorry.”

But then he feels a dip in the mattress behind him, and suddenly there’s warmth settling against his back. An arm tentatively comes to rest over him, and Cody swears that if he moves or speaks, he’s going to shatter the moment. So he barely even breathes.

“We don’t have any more blankets, but we have… a me,” Maxx finally says, letting out a nervous chuckle. “I hope that’s okay.”

Cody can feel his heart melting. _Who knew a demon could be so sweet?_ He lets himself relax, and in turn, it actually starts to feel like Maxx is holding him, rather than just awkwardly laying there. 

It’s… nice. He can’t remember the last time he’d been held.

“You should try to sleep,” Maxx says, his voice reassuring. He moves his hand back to run through Cody’s hair again, and Cody lets out a content sigh. “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let you get so sick that you die. Cross my heart.”

“Well, that’s not suspicious at all,” Cody mumbles, but underneath his facade, his heart is swelling. And as he drifts off to sleep, for the first time in a long time, he feels completely safe.

* * *

After the fever, they are gentler with each other. Gazes linger. Arms brush against each other longer than they should. If their legs are pressed against each other when they sit down on the couch, neither says anything. There’s even a couple times where Maxx lays his head on Cody’s shoulder, or vice versa, and it’s just… allowed to happen.

Cody realizes that he kind of likes having Maxx around. A lot. 

It’s just that Cody also thinks about it a lot. Too much, in fact. His stomach flips when he remembers how Maxx had been curled up against him when he woke up, free from the fever but too scared to move, in case he might disrupt the moment. He wants to be closer to Maxx. He wants to know everything about him, no matter what it is.

This all leads to them having a deep conversation in the kitchen one night, past the point where they should have stopped and called it a night. 

“ _I wish you weren’t an angel,_ ” is what Maxx says that sparks it. 

“Hm?” Cody asks, setting down his drink. He’s not mad or anything, just surprised at this sudden statement. “Pardon?”

“It’s just…” Maxx starts. “It’s just that I wish things were simpler. I wish I didn’t have to worry about the Council interfering at any moment. I know you said that they’d probably drop the case, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying.”

“Maxx, I have total autonomy,” Cody tries to reassure him. “They haven’t followed me on a mission in centuries. We’re okay. Trust me.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Maxx says, and his voice is shaky. He’s seemed a bit off all day, and Cody had wondered what was on his mind. This could definitely be it. “It’s not about you. I trust you. But I don’t think they put as much faith in you as you think they do.”

“Why do you say that?”

Maxx trains an anxious, open gaze on him. “There’s a lot of _bad_ shit the Council has done, Cody. Shit that makes demons look like saints in comparison. They kill without reason. They go out for revenge. They’re not as holy as they seem — they just have that holier-than-thou complex.”

And something about that tears Cody apart. Part of him is glad that Maxx trusts him enough to talk to him like this, but another part of him doesn’t want to believe it’s true. He doesn’t want to take off his rose-colored glasses. Not yet.

“I feel like I would know,” Cody murmurs, looking down at his feet. He can feel Maxx growing tense. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, I just… I feel like I would _know_ if that was true.”

“There’s still a lot you don’t know,” Maxx says, suddenly going stiff. “I wouldn’t just blindly trust them. There’s a lot of shit they’ll never tell you.”

“Like what?” Cody presses. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“They punished me, Cody. They have more power than you know,” Maxx insists, and when Cody looks up, there are tears welling up in his eyes. “Andrew died because they wanted me to suffer. It should have been _me_.”

“But it was just an accident, right?” Cody prompts, though he doesn’t even believe what he’s saying anymore. Why would Maxx be crying if he was lying? “It has to be.”

“You think the car crash he got into was actually an _accident?_ ” Maxx exclaims all of a sudden, his whole body shaking. “His car wasn’t even moving when he was hit. He should have survived. They wanted him dead! They wanted me dead! They took away the only thing I cared about in hopes of destroying me. The place that you come from, Cody — the place that _we both_ come from — is full of lies. Maybe it’s not the kind of sin we’re taught to avoid, but it is absolutely _fucked_. We’re fucked if we try to go against them. They want _me dead_.”

“ _Maxx_ ,” Cody says, and his throat is dry. He wants to sob. He wants to hold Maxx. He… he’s not sure what he wants anymore. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Maxx mumbles, his hands curling into fists. “You can do as much research as you want, but they’ll never let you find out about their dirty work unless you experience it yourself. I had to learn that the hard way.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” Cody blurts out, and suddenly Maxx’s gaze is on him again. “I don’t want to. I don’t want to hurt you. I haven’t wanted to for a long time. They were wrong when they sent me to you.”

Maxx’s hands fall limply at his sides, his whole body slumping with defeat. “They were wrong?”

“ _They were wrong_ ,” Cody repeats, and he crosses the gap between them to pull Maxx into a tight embrace. “They were wrong to think that I could do that to you. I could never.” They stand there like that for a few seconds, unmoving, but Maxx finally tentatively winds his arms around Cody, and lets his head drop onto his shoulder. 

“Thank you,” Maxx says softly, nose pressed into the space where Cody’s neck and shoulder meet, and Cody’s stomach churns with something he can't put a name on. He hasn’t felt this way in… ever. 

“They were always wrong about you,” Cody murmurs, bringing one hand up to comb his fingers through Maxx’s hair. “You’re… you’re…”

“I’m pretty okay?”

“You’re amazing,” Cody corrects him. Maxx closes the remaining distance between them at that, his whole body falling into Cody’s as the stress melts off of him, and Cody holds him up through it. “I think you’re more complex than any words that could ever fit in your case file. I think I don’t even have words to describe you.”

There’s no denying it, anymore: he definitely feels more toward Maxx than he was ever supposed to. And… he’s kind of okay with that.

“That’s not all,” Cody continues, and Maxx looks up from his shoulder. His cheeks are a deep pink, and his face is wet with tears, but for once, he looks completely open. That’s the moment that Cody knows Maxx has shown all of himself to Cody. It’s only fair that he does the same. “I know you think it should have been you, but I, for one, am _really_ glad you’re alive.”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better, Cody,” Maxx starts, but Cody cuts him off.

“I’m not lying. I would have never known about any of this if not for you,” he assures Maxx, more honest than he’s ever been before. “You’ve expanded my horizons so much. I think you make me better. Not just me, but the world; you make it a better place.”

“ _Cody_ ,” Maxx says, and Cody waits for him to expand on that, but his voice trails off. It looks like there’s so much he wants to say, but neither of them dares speak.

 _Kiss him_ , Cody‘s brain tells him, and _wow,_ that’s an urge he’s never had before. 

“C’mon,” he says instead, taking Maxx’s hand in his own. “I can tell you’re tired. You have to work tomorrow, right? Let’s get you into bed.”

And then those pale eyes are on him, absolutely devastating and beautiful, and Cody feels his entire world melt away. And Cody takes him to his bed, tells him sleep will make him feel better, and all he wants is for Maxx to ask him to stay. And when Cody makes his way back to the couch, he feels empty without him. And that’s when it hits him.

 _Fuck._ He’s in too deep.

Except at 2 AM, Cody feels a tug on his blankets, and when he opens his eyes, Maxx is crouching next to the couch. This feels way too intimate to be happening between the two of them, but there he is; hair messy from tossing and turning, arms wrapped around himself because he’s cold, a somewhat sheepish expression on his face. It’s all real, and it’s all right _there._

“Can’t sleep,” Maxx explains, and Cody’s heart squeezes when he realizes what that means.

“Do you want me to stay with you in your bed? We can just like… hang out or something until you’re tired,” Cody offers.

Maxx shakes his head, prodding Cody’s side. “No. Scoot over, I’m coming in.”

This entails Maxx being half-draped over Cody due to the lack of space — it’s a _couch_ , he doesn’t really know what else either of them were expecting — and it takes a minute of shuffling the blankets around until both of them are comfortable, but they make it work.

“This is gonna sound dumb,” Maxx says, and his voice sounds small. “But I miss being held.”

So Cody wraps his arms around him, and his chest fills and holds when Maxx rests his head on it. “This good?”

“Yeah. It’s perfect.”

“Good.”

“I’m sorry,” Maxx says, his voice almost a whisper. “For blowing up at you earlier. And for being so needy right now. I think I just let everything build up for so long, and it finally exploded.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Cody soothes. “You’ve been so kind to me for so long, it actually feels good to be able to return the favor a little bit.”

“This should be weird, right?” Maxx asks, but it sounds like he’s trying to convince himself more than he’s trying to convince Cody. “Like… our entire dynamic. Doing this right now. It should be weird.”

“Maybe,” Cody says, but if he’s being honest, he doesn’t care what’s weird or not anymore. He’s got a sleepy Maxx draped over him in the middle of the night. He doesn’t give a fuck about how they got there. “It doesn’t have to be, though.”

“Yeah,” Maxx sighs, and his entire body relaxes. “I guess so.”

“You need to sleep,” Cody says, running a hand through his hair, just like Maxx had done for him once. “Stop thinking. Just close your eyes.”

“My eyes _are_ closed.”

“You know what I mean.”

The next morning, Maxx calls in sick to work, and he lets Cody hold him for the day. It’s more than good. It’s perfect.

* * *

“Let’s go for a walk,” Maxx suggests, grabbing a jacket. “It’s getting warmer, and we could both use the time outside.”

Cody perks up immediately. It’s been a while since either of them have been out of the apartment for something other than work, so it’s a welcome change in pace. There’s a park not far from Maxx’s apartment, and since the sun is going down, there’s not as many people hanging around. It’s wonderful; they walk in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company and the autumn breeze.

And then Maxx stops in the middle of the sidewalk without warning, and Cody turns around to face him. “What’s up? You okay?”

“What are you still doing here, Cody?” Maxx asks, and Cody’s heart freezes in his chest. Maxx can sense that he’s on the verge of heart failure, and quickly backtracks. “Not that I don’t like having you here! It’s nice having someone around, actually. I like you being here. I just… why haven’t you left?”

“I don’t know,” Cody admits, and in that moment it feels like the entire world stops. “I wish I had an answer for you, but I don’t know. I just… don’t want to leave. Does that make sense at all?”

“Do you not want to leave here because of me, or because you get free room and board?” Maxx says, going right back to teasing, and Cody’s heart immediately thaws. 

“Both,” he says. And then he swallows his pride. “But mostly because of you. I like your company. I like being around you all the time.”

“Oh,” Maxx breathes, and it looks to Cody like he’s having some kind of great realization, but Cody can’t figure out exactly what it is. He goes back to walking like nothing had ever happened, but there’s an undeniable bounce in his step now.

“Yeah, so,” Cody says, falling back into step with him. “There you go.”

The silence resumes, but there’s something underneath it now. Tension. Cody can’t exactly put his finger on what it is about the moment, but it feels like everything that’s happened over the past couple of months has built up to this. Maybe it’s the silence; maybe it’s something in the air. Either way, he can’t ignore it anymore.

Maxx has been stealing glances at him ever since his confession, a dorky smile on his face, and it’s getting under Cody’s skin. _What is he thinking about?_

“What?” Cody finally asks. “Why do you keep looking at me? Are you afraid I’m gonna do something? Do you even trust me?”

“Of course I trust you,” Maxx murmurs, not at all fazed by Cody’s sudden outburst. He grabs Cody’s hand, and everything around them halts. “I’m just looking at you because… well. You’re just pretty. That’s all.”

“Oh,” Cody exhales, feeling something in the pit of his stomach begin to turn. They stop walking. Again. “I didn’t… I didn’t know that.”

Cody is a five hundred-year-old ethereal being, and he has never been kissed before. Not in this life, at least. He knows what it’s supposed to look like — he’s not _stupid_ — but nothing could have prepared him for how it feels when Maxx leans in and captures his lips with his own. 

But… it all feels natural with Maxx. He can’t stop himself from kissing back; he wants this. Cody slides his hands into his hair, and feels arms wrap around his torso in return. Maxx pulls him closer, so that they’re flush against each other, and it feels like nothing else in the world exists at this moment. This is all that matters. 

“So,” Maxx says when they break away. “Kisses.”

“Kisses,” Cody agrees, and as Maxx leans his forehead against Cody’s, he’s unable to stifle a giggle.

The first thing Cody takes away from this experience is that he likes _boys._ Not that gender matters — it’s a concept that humans have created, nothing less — but still, he never expected it. Every form he’s ever admired has had a feminine physique. He wasn’t sure if it was possible for him to feel something toward his more masculine brethren. But he’s sure, definitely sure now, that he can and _does_ fall victim to the law of attraction. 

The second thing he takes away is that he likes _Maxx._

This is the more dangerous realization. This is the one where deeper feelings could start to develop. He needs to stop this madness now, and take care of Maxx before he’s stripped of his angel status. Just get it over with. 

But Maxx is smiling, heavy breaths buffeting against Cody’s lips, and their foreheads are still pressed together. Their arms are still wrapped around each other. He feels safer here, _happier_ here, than he has in a long time. He doesn’t want to hurt Maxx. He wants to kiss him again, and again, and again.

And he does. 

* * *

Cody starts sleeping in Maxx’s bed. 

He’s amazed at just how easily they’ve fallen into this, but at the same time, he’s not all that surprised. It all makes sense. _They_ make sense.

At the same time, it feels like they have a lot of catching up to do. Looking back on it, Cody realizes he’d wanted this for a long time, but he hadn’t had any experience with longing like that before. There’s so much he wants to do, but at the moment, he’s absolutely content with them just… laying with each other. Being happy. _Together._

“Five _hundred_ years, and nothing has made me feel like you do,” Cody says. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Maybe we’re just lucky,” Maxx suggests. “I mean, after all, anybody could have been assigned to my case, but they picked you. Or maybe we were meant to come back to each other, I don’t know.”

“You think we could have been lovers in our past lives?” Cody muses, carding his fingers through Maxx’s hair. 

“I don’t think so — I mean, I _am_ about fifty years younger than you in this life,” Maxx reminds him. “Who knows, though. I have a feeling that if we met in our past lives like we met now, we’d hit it off pretty fast.”

Maxx’s lips curl into a wide smile, eyes still closed, and he leans into Cody’s hand. These are the times when Cody wants to kiss him the most, when he’s smiling. Sometimes it makes him smile even more, and Cody can feel it against his lips, and it lights a fire in his chest, knowing he can make Maxx happy. 

“Come here, let me kiss you,” Cody murmurs, pulling him closer. He nudges Maxx’s cheek with his nose, then plants one, two, three kisses there. 

Maxx chuckles a bit under his breath. “You go five hundred years without kissing and suddenly you can’t get enough.”

“Maybe it’s just you,” Cody teases, and Maxx tilts his head up to connect their lips. 

“‘m just that irresistible, huh?” Maxx mumbles in-between kisses.

“Yeah,” Cody breathes out, not joking in the slightest. Maxx has no idea how close he is to the truth with that one. “You really are.”

* * *

Sometimes Cody wishes he knew what to say to move things faster.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with kissing Maxx, because there definitely isn’t. He loves that a lot. _A lot._ It’s just that sometimes, he wonders what it would be like to have _more_ , even though he’s never done anything like that before. 

Especially times like this, when Maxx is straddling his lap and his hands are roaming around under Cody’s shirt. His mouth is warm and wet on Cody’s neck, kissing him slowly, and it’s causing Cody an immense amount of both pleasure and frustration.

“Cody?” Maxx asks, and Cody can’t even remember when he’d stopped kissing him and sat up straight — that’s just how lost in thought he is. “You okay, babe?”

“Uh.” _Fuck it_. Maybe lust is one of the seven deadly sins, or whatever, but his brain is currently very much turned off, while the rest of him is turned… well, on, so to speak.

Cody rocks his hips up into Maxx’s and buries his face in his neck, embarrassed. He knows his cheeks are flushed and he’s breathing hard, but he can’t help it. He wishes he could be more articulate about this, but it’s not like he even knows where to begin when it comes to asking.

“You good, angel?” Maxx asks, and Cody can very clearly hear the amusement in his voice. _He knows, that little fucker._

“Can we have sex?” Cody blurts out finally, because he might as well just say it. He’s very, _very_ flustered, but that doesn’t mean he means it any less. 

“Where did that come from?” Maxx is blushing now, his cheeks radiating heat, and in that moment Cody knows he’s got him exactly where he wants him. 

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. And I think you should fuck me,” Cody finds himself saying, and Maxx looks like he’s just ascended from the physical plane. 

“Are you _sure?_ ” Maxx asks, kissing his forehead. “Because we don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”

“I want to,” Cody assures him, his voice soft. “I want you to show me what it’s like. Only you.”

“Only me,” Maxx murmurs, like he can’t believe it. “Okay, angel. Okay.”

Maxx looks at him like he’s hung the stars in the sky as they undress, and Cody’s heart _aches_ for him. He wants this. He wants whatever Maxx has to give him, always. And he wants to give in return. “Show me.”

“Here, lay on your back,” Maxx says, gently guiding Cody down onto the bed. “I want to see you.”

He grabs one of the fuller pillows and tucks it under Cody’s lower back, giving him easier access. Cody’s pulse is roaring in his ears, and he’s full of nervous energy, but he wants this. He wants Maxx to show him what intimacy is supposed to feel like. 

“Okay, so this is probably going to feel weird at first,” Maxx says, tossing a half-empty bottle aside — okay, yeah, Cody knows what _that_ is. “But I’m gonna need you to relax while I do this, okay?”

“Okay,” Cody promises him, his mind buzzing with anticipation. “Just do it.”

He knew it was going to feel strange, at least at first — after all, Maxx had literally _just_ said it was going to be weird — but he can’t mask his surprise when Maxx works two slick fingers into him slowly. He’s never felt _anything_ like this before. 

“What are you _doing_?” Cody asks, but his voice comes out distorted as Maxx hits a spot that makes every nerve ending inside him come alive. “...whatever it is, do that again.”

Maxx laughs softly, stopping for a second to kiss him. “You’re cute. I have to stretch you to get you ready, sweet boy. If I hit that too many times, you might come before the good part.” He grins against Cody’s lips, and Cody melts for him all over again. “But I’ll try to hit it again one more time, just for you.”

“Just put your dick in me, demon,” Cody says, exasperated, and Maxx laughs louder, continuing to work him open at what feels like a snail’s pace. “Don’t laugh at me, you bastard!”

“That’s pretty vulgar language, if you ask me. I’m sure the man upstairs won’t be too happy about that.”

“Maxx,” Cody says quietly. “If you don’t stop teasing and fuck me, I _will_ go ahead and complete my mission right now.”

“All right, if you insist.” Maxx takes that moment to slide into him, and Cody’s taken aback at how full he feels. He wasn’t expecting _that_. “See? That’s why I was trying to prepare you so much, sweetheart. You okay?”

Cody nods, fisting the sheets in one hand. “Yeah, just… move, would you?”

Maxx keeps his thrusts slow inside of him, and Cody decides this, _this_ feels holy. This is sin at its finest, but it’s one of the best things Cody’s ever felt. 

“Does it feel good, angel?” Maxx asks, and the pet name burns through Cody’s veins. All he can do is open his mouth to let out a soft moan, and Maxx smiles at him, green eyes glowing with pride. “I’m gonna take that as a yes.”

“Please,” Cody finds himself saying, his eyes falling closed when the thrusts start coming harder and faster. “Oh my god, just keep doing that.”

“I mean, that was the plan,” Maxx jokes, and Cody wonders how somehow can find time for humor at a moment like this. His cheeks are getting redder, though, and his breath is coming in staggered pants, so Cody knows he’s not the only one feeling this.

“Why don’t you shut up and come already?” Cody retorts, but it takes all of his willpower not to whine while doing so. _Damn it. He’s too good at this._

“You’re gonna come before I do; that’s just the rule,” Maxx teases, squeezing his hips. “So how about now, baby?”

Something about that cuts to Cody’s core, and he lets himself have the release his body has been seeking. Maxx isn’t far behind, and he looks very obviously relieved that he didn’t have to wait too long for Cody. He may have been a gentleman about making sure Cody felt as good as possible, but it’s not like he could have held on for much longer, either. 

Cody is very, very warm and sticky both inside and out, and Maxx looks almost sheepish about it, but he feels amazing. Maxx kisses his shoulder and just lays there for a second, and Cody’s never been so giddy in his _life._ If he thought the process was great, the afterglow is even better. 

He breathes in deep as Maxx pulls out, already missing the feeling of being so close. Maxx more than makes up for it, though, with a kiss so sweet it would make you sick. Seconds seem to stretch into long minutes as they kiss, but none of it matters. They’ve got all the time in the world. 

“Come take a bath with me,” Maxx murmurs, running his fingers through Cody’s hair. “I’ll go throw the sheets in the wash since we ended up making a mess, and then we can get all warm and clean together.”

“Why are you being so gentle with me?” Cody asks, unable to stop the smile crossing his face. 

“It’s your first time, isn’t it?” Cody nods, a little bit embarrassed. “I want it to be special. I want it to be something you get happy about when you remember.”

Cody’s heart floods with warmth, and he wants to bask in this feeling forever. “You’re perfect.”

“Far from it,” Maxx argues, gently coaxing him out of bed. “Just smitten with someone.”

“That someone must be pretty lucky,” Cody teases right back, and Maxx rolls his eyes.

“Shut _up.”_ Maxx playfully shoves him toward the bathroom. “Stop being a dork or I’m getting in without you.”

“You would _never._ You love me.”

“...okay, yeah, but you don’t have to be so _loud_ about it.”

Cody decides, as Maxx is trying to help him shampoo his hair without getting it in his eyes, that he has the best boyfriend in the world. And that he wouldn’t trade him for anything.

* * *

Cody wakes the next morning with a start, all of the euphoria from the previous night deserting him in an instant. He can’t put his finger on it, but something feels… wrong. Something feels missing. 

“You okay?” Maxx mumbles, half-asleep. 

“Yeah, I’m just gonna…” Cody lets his voice trail off, trying not to alarm Maxx. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, which he doesn’t do enough as it is. “I’m just gonna run to the bathroom. Be right back.”

He stumbles to the bathroom, feeling dizzy and fatigued. There’s definitely something wrong with him. _Am I getting sick again? What’s happening?_

When he flicks on the light and looks in the mirror, he suddenly understands. Angels don’t look like this unless...

He takes the human cloak off to see the worst of the damage, and he can’t help the gasp that falls from his lips. What’s left of his wings look absolutely tattered, feathers rough and patchy, clumps of them falling to the bathroom floor. It’s like the worst nightmare he’s ever had multiplied by a million — except it’s real. His beautiful wings are ruined, and there’s nothing he can do to fix them.

And then he sees his halo.

“It’s broken,” he breathes out, reaching up to touch it. It doesn’t burn his hands, like usual — he can grab it easily, and brings it down to look at it, though he doesn’t want to. Seeing his wings was bad enough, but this? This hurts.

He falls to the floor, his hands shaking. It’s like a nightmare; the metal is dirty, dull, bleak. His eyes sting with the prick of tears, and suddenly he can’t hold it back anymore. A choked sob escapes his mouth as heavy tears hit the floor.

“Cody? Are you okay?” Maxx calls, but he can’t bring himself to answer. He chokes out a sob, holding the remains of his tarnished halo in his hands. The gold he used to be so proud of is gone, ruined. He can hear Maxx’s footsteps growing closer, the squeak of the door opening, the soft gasp behind him, but he can’t process it. Everything is numb.

They’d actually cast him out. He almost can’t believe it.

And he knows that being an angel is nothing more than a superiority complex, now. Holiness is nothing more than a farce. But still, he can’t help but mourn for the life he used to know. If there was ever a chance for him to return to Heaven and resume his duties as an angel, it’s gone, now.

“Baby,” Maxx whispers, crouching down next to him. And Cody should be mad at him, because _he’s_ the one who made Cody want to give up this life in the first place. But he doesn’t want to be mad. He just wants Maxx to hold him. “I’m so sorry.”

Cody shakes his head, messily wiping the tears from his cheeks. “It’s their problem that they don’t understand love.”

Maxx stiffens a little bit at that, and Cody almost laughs. Of course, he’d choose the worst way to reveal he’s in love. Maxx quickly gets over it, though, wrapping his arms around Cody and pulling him into his body. Cody rests his head on his chest, comforted by the reassuring thump of his heartbeat. No matter what happens now, they have each other. He wouldn’t give that up for any stupid halo. 

* * *

The screaming is what wakes Cody up.

He rips off the sheets in a cold sweat, taking into account the empty side of the bed next to him, and his blood freezes. _No. God, no. Please, please, no._ The bloodcurdling noise ends almost as soon as it had began, but he knows what this means. It’s been a few weeks since he was cast out; he should have expected they’d come looking for him. The Council has found them, and they have Maxx.

He goes sprinting into the living room, his head a whirlwind of fear. There’s no sign that anybody had been there except for Maxx laying facedown on the floor, his arms covered in burn marks, clothes tattered. Cody’s stomach plunges. He knows the signs of an angel attack anywhere. 

Cody turns him over, trying his best not to hurt him, and he almost bursts into tears when he sees the blood leaking from Maxx’s nose. He drops his head to his chest, praying to a god he doesn’t trust anymore that Maxx is still alive. And that turns out to be the only good news — Maxx’s breaths are raspy and shaky, but he’s still breathing. 

Cody yanks out his lip piercing and transforms it into his broken halo to drop the human disguise, ignoring the taste of blood in his mouth, and stands to his full height. He unfurls what’s left of his wings to their full wingspan, eyes glowing gold with fury for the first time in months. He knows that he doesn’t have nearly as much power in him as he used to, but he’s willing to use what’s left to fight for Maxx.

“Who’s there?” Cody asks, the sensation of blood rushing in his ears. “Which one of you fuckers did this?”

“Cody,” a soft voice says, stepping into the room from the kitchen, and Cody’s smacked with the fresh sting of betrayal, because he knows exactly who that voice belongs to. They’d been friends and hunting partners for so long, gone on so many missions together. And now everything Cody knows is crumbling down around him — his life, his friendships, the man he loves. The Council has elected to take all of that away from him. His entire body feels raw. 

“Zach,” he spits out, and the name is bitter on his tongue. “So they finally turned you against me, huh? You’re the last person I thought capable of this.”

“Cody, I was sent to protect you,” Zach tries to explain. He curls his wings around himself protectively, like he isn’t ten times as powerful as Cody right now. 

“I’m _fine!_ ” Cody yells, kneeling in front of Maxx protectively. “What did you _do_ to him, Zach?”

“They sent me to find you,” Zach tries to explain, inching his way closer. “They told me to tell you that they made a mistake when they cast you out. They were afraid you were being held hostage, that you—”

“Fuck the Council!” Cody roars, his eyes brimming with tears. “I want you to look at me. Do I look like I’m being held hostage? Do I look like he’s hurt me? Do I really come off that weak?”

“I was scared for you, Cody,” Zach breathes out, and Cody’s heart drops. They go too far back. He _knows_ the Council knew he’d already made his decision, and they only sent Zach in the hopes of winning him back. “You’re not safe here.”

“I’m not any safer there, either,” Cody says, lowering his voice. “If I go back, they’ll kill Maxx themselves. I can’t let them do that.”

Recognition flashes in Zach’s eyes. “You’ve made your choice, then.”

“Yeah. I choose love, and I’ll continue to do so.” The first tear slips down Cody’s cheek, and it comes crashing down on him all at once that he’s losing everything he used to know. “I wish I could make you understand, Zach. Even if I couldn’t, I wish there was a way we could still be friends.”

“I’m not permitted to be friends with Fallen Ones,” Zach says, but his voice is tinged with something deeper, something that sparks a flicker of hope in Cody’s chest. The silence is filled with _I’ll find a way, trust me._

“Leave,” Cody says, quieter this time, and Zach turns away, his gaze full of pain. “If you’re my friend now, or if you were ever my friend at all, you’ll tell the Council you couldn’t find us.” 

“For you,” Zach finally says, looking at him one last time. “But only because it’s you.”

There’s a flash of light, and suddenly he’s gone, just as quickly as he’d come.

Cody puts the piercing back in, wincing as it grazes over the tender skin, and just like that, any evidence that he was once an angel is cloaked once more. He casts his gaze downward; Maxx still hasn’t moved from the spot. He’s okay, though. He’s going to be okay. 

He has to be. 

Cody hooks his arms under Maxx’s, trying to be as gentle as possible, and starts to drag him toward the bathroom. First things first: he has to get Maxx cleaned up, and figure out what first aid supplies they have. The burns don’t look as bad as Cody had feared, but who knows what kind of magic Zach could have used to knock him unconscious? Those are the effects Cody’s most worried about.

“I’m so sorry if I’m hurting you,” Cody murmurs, trying to see through the blur of the tears welling up in his eyes. Maxx can’t hear him, and it’s not like Cody has any idea when he’ll wake up, but he _needs_ to talk to him. If he keeps talking to Maxx like nothing’s wrong, it feels more like everything is going to be okay. Tomorrow, he’ll wash the blood out of everything, in an attempt to go back to living like this never happened.

Because that’s all he can do. He just has to keep going.

Once in the bathroom, he rummages through the medicine cabinet to see what he can do. He cleans up the wounds as best as he can, and tries to be as gentle as possible about it, talking him through every step. Maxx ends up covered in Hello Kitty Band-Aids and various ointments, but it’s about all that he’s got right now. He grabs a couple of bottles of painkillers for when Maxx wakes up, picks him up once more, and hauls him toward the bedroom.

As exhausted as he is, he manages to get Maxx into bed, and Maxx groans a little, in pain — which is concerning, because _pain_ , but also a good sign that he’s regaining consciousness slowly. He doesn’t know how long it’ll take for the magic to wear off, but he’ll stay right by Maxx’s side as long as he has to.

“It’s going to be okay,” Cody promises, curling up next to him in bed. “We’re going to be okay.”

He doesn’t know who he’s trying to convince more: Maxx, or himself.

* * *

It’s the middle of the night when Maxx finally comes to, but Cody is right there with him.

“Angel?” Maxx mumbles feebly, and Cody jolts awake.

“Hi, baby,” he coos, running a hand through Maxx’s hair. “I was wondering when you’d wake up.”

“I’m _so_ gonna get fired from my job,” Maxx groans, followed by, “did they hurt you?”

Cody’s heart clenches. Even in this state, the first thing he cares about is whether or not Cody’s okay. _That’s love._

Cody shakes his head. “No, I’m okay. I… I knew who it was, and I was able to talk him down.”

Maxx raises an eyebrow. “They sent someone you knew to kill us? That’s convenient.”

“His name is Zach,” Cody answers quietly, the ache in his heart growing stronger. “He was an old friend of mine.”

“You realize that this means they know where we are now,” Maxx says solemnly. Cody knows he’s trying to keep it together on the outside, but he knows Maxx too well by now. He knows he’s fucking terrified underneath that mask.

“They might not,” Cody offers. “I think Zach is going to hide our location to protect us.”

Maxx looks at him with sad eyes. “That’s nice of him, but they’ll find out soon. They always do. I still can’t believe I was safe here for as long as I was.”

“Then we’ll go someplace else,” Cody says, brushing his hair out of his face. Maxx leans into it, like always, and something about that soothes the raging storm in his stomach. Even after this, they’re still the same. Nothing could change how they are when they’re together. “We’ll figure out a way.”

“You’re gonna have to spend your entire life on the defense with me. They’re going to try to kill us,” Maxx warns him. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Cody nods vigorously, curling into his side. He’s scared, obviously, but he’s never been more sure of what he wants in the entire five hundred years he’s been alive. “Of course it is. I made my choice, and I chose you.”

Maxx gives him a tired smile. “You’re the craziest person I’ve ever met.”

“Maybe, but I love you,” Cody whispers, kissing his jaw, his neck, his shoulder. “I fucking love you so much.”

“You shouldn’t,” Maxx says weakly, his eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. He’s so, so worn out, and Cody would rather be damned to Hell than ever leave his side. “Look what happened.”

“Yeah, what _happened_ is that I found you, and I want to spend the rest of our miserable lives together,” Cody presses their foreheads together. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Don’t you dare give up on me now.”

Even like this, Maxx beams at him, cupping Cody’s face in his hand. “I would never.”

“Good,” Cody says, letting his eyes fall closed. “Because as long as we’re together, nothing else matters.”

As soon as Maxx heals, they pack up the apartment and head east. Maxx has some friends out in Florida, he says, and they can look out for each other until then. Cody dyes his hair blue in a gas station bathroom to make himself “less recognizable” to the Council’s minions, who are no doubt searching for him — although, in truth, it feels more like a new start than anything else. It also makes Maxx laugh, and Cody thinks about that every time he sees the blue stain on his hands.

Soon, California will be nothing more than a bad memory for them. And if they have to run again, they will. He’s okay with it. He knows the truth. He knows love. He knows what life is supposed to feel like, now. He’s not going to take any of that for granted.

Maxx drives. Cody holds his hand over the center console. There are still some traces of the burn scars there, but they’re fading away, just like the fear he felt on that morning. If they survived that, they can survive anything. They’ll start over and make something new. Something beautiful. Something better than holy.

And they’ll be okay.


End file.
